Lady of the Lake Accelerated ASN

U.S.A. Louisiana

Published

Hi. I am very interested in the accelerated ASN program at Our Lady of the Lake in Baton Rouge. Can anyone give me any information on this program? I've seen the information that is available online. However, I am looking for information from experienced insiders such as: getting accepted, true level of difficulty, etc. This will be a major career change for me, and I do not want to make a bad decision. I have a 3.6 gpa from SLU w/ AA in OSH and BA in Gen Studies. I consider myself a capable, hard working student but all I have heard is HORROR stories.

Thanks!

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well, I finished this program in Aug '09. It is intense in the sense that you will never have time to let your brain rest in 10 months time. It's tough physically... there were many sleepless nights filled with care plans, and clinical during the day. If you have a strong hold on anatomy and physiology, I believe the program will be a little less challenging. My word of advice- study the notes the instructors give you. Memorize them. Then seek clarification from the text books if you have time. It will take a little bit of time to think in the way you need to learn to think, so don't get discouraged if you don't make the grades you're used to making right off of the bat. Statistical wise- 40 students went to orientation, 39 came to the first class, 38 took the first test, and 18 finished the program. Most of the students who didn't finish the program moved to the 2 year program and either have finished, or are doing well and will be finished in May. Good Luck to you, and don't give up!

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WOW! Thanks so much for the information. I'm really terrified now. I'm a 35 y.o. single mother of 2 boys (9 & 13). Can you tell me more about the "type" of students that actually completed the program? i.e. age, etc. What was the typical schedule like per week? And, how was the employment outlook/salary?

Thanks again!

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"I'm a 35 y.o. single mother of 2 boys (9 & 13). Can you tell me more about the "type" of students that actually completed the program? i.e. age, etc."-- As for the type of student, we had young twenty-somethings who were single or dating, and we had more mature students with husbands and children. All did equally as well. It can be challenging with kids from what I hear, but it was definitely doable for my peers. The biggest thing to remember is that your life will be nursing school for 10 months, then it will be NCLEX prep for another month or so. Then you'll get your life back :)

"What was the typical schedule like per week? And, how was the employment outlook/salary?"-- schedule wise, after pharmacology (only about two days of school a week, no clinical), you'll have probably 3 days of classes a week, then pre-clinical (and the night full of care plans) and then two full days of clinical each week (clinical can be on weekdays or weekends.) I tried each week to have an evening to myself with no nursing school work. I napped often, and it kept me sane. Employment wise, we were offered a contract with OLOLRMC for 3 years in which they paid our tuition. As far as I'm aware, all of my classmates got jobs, but it can take a couple months before you actually start work. I finished Aug 6, 2009 and didn't start working until Sept 21st. I took the NCLEX before I started working so I wouldn't have to worry about studying while in orientation. Salary wise, it depends on the schedule you work. Base pay is $19.75 for new grads at the lake. $4 evening differential (3pm-11pm) and $5 night differential (11pm-7am) and $5 weekend differential. So obviously, it depends on the schedule you work, whether you work M-F 8 hr shifts (approx $41K/yr) or seven, twelve-hour shifts a check on the night shift (approx $61K/yr).

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"I'm a 35 y.o. single mother of 2 boys (9 & 13). Can you tell me more about the "type" of students that actually completed the program? i.e. age, etc."-- As for the type of student, we had young twenty-somethings who were single or dating, and we had more mature students with husbands and children. All did equally as well. It can be challenging with kids from what I hear, but it was definitely doable for my peers. The biggest thing to remember is that your life will be nursing school for 10 months, then it will be NCLEX prep for another month or so. Then you'll get your life back :)

"What was the typical schedule like per week? And, how was the employment outlook/salary?"-- schedule wise, after pharmacology (only about two days of school a week, no clinical), you'll have probably 3 days of classes a week, then pre-clinical (and the night full of care plans) and then two full days of clinical each week (clinical can be on weekdays or weekends.) I tried each week to have an evening to myself with no nursing school work. I napped often, and it kept me sane. Employment wise, we were offered a contract with OLOLRMC for 3 years in which they paid our tuition. As far as I'm aware, all of my classmates got jobs, but it can take a couple months before you actually start work. I finished Aug 6, 2009 and didn't start working until Sept 21st. I took the NCLEX before I started working so I wouldn't have to worry about studying while in orientation. Salary wise, it depends on the schedule you work. Base pay is $19.75 for new grads at the lake. $4 evening differential (3pm-11pm) and $5 night differential (11pm-7am) and $5 weekend differential. So obviously, it depends on the schedule you work, whether you work M-F 8 hr shifts (approx $41K/yr) or seven, twelve-hour shifts a check on the night shift (approx $61K/yr).

Thanks, once again for all of the excellent information! One more question and I'll leave you alone (lol): Did you do the contract for tuition? I heard that even if you do that, another hospital can actually buy out that contract. Is that true?

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I did do the contract, and it's true that another hospital can buy it out. However, I'm not sure in this economy that a hospital would be willing to spend more on a new grad. But it is possible. Feel free to ask anything, and vent often... we did it alot :)

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

I graduated from the first BR accelerated program in Aug '08 and I 100% agree with the above posters. You have to accept the fact that you will do nothing but basically eat and breathe nursing for 10 months. Its a long 10 months but when its over you'll look back and it'll all be a big blur. We started out with 40 and finished with about 22, and yes, the pharmacology class is what did most of those people in. But all you have to do is study your notes and read the book as a supplement really and you should do just fine. We lost a couple more later in the program and those people went to the 2 year program and did just fine. The schedule that I read above looks pretty accurate. Lots of late nights doing care plans and going to the bookstores and studying nursing exam questions out of the books in the store. Be prepared to feel rushed and pushed through the program because that's why its called accelerated. Our class was mostly 20 something singles with BF/GFs, and the rest were early to mid thirties, only a few were married. I don't know about the other posters, but our program felt rather disorganized at times. I don't know if it was because we were the first class the BR branch or what, but at times it was very frustrating to deal with the adminstration when it came to scheduling to classes and things of that nature.

As a side note, I recommend taking the Hurst review when it comes time to begin studying for the NCLEX. Its well worth it. Most of our class all took it and we all passed on our first try at the NCLEX. Its one book and its all you'll need.

Good luck!!

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Thanks for the info! I consider myself a quick learner and don't mind putting forth the effort. However, I didn't want to attempt something that is just next to impossible either. I'm sure it will be worth it in the end. So, were there lots of reasearch projects or mainly nursing care plans, etc?

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In the beginning there were papers to write, and every class had some type of project, but it usually wasn't something you had to spend more than a day or so on. There wasn't enough time to research something for weeks to write a 10 page paper :) Tons of careplans.

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Hello everyone! I hope some of you still keep up with this thread... I am considering applying for the OLOL Accelerated program for Jan 2011 (Tulane cohort in New Olreans), so I am trying to read up on it as much as possible. Like one of the other ladies, I have 2 children..however, my children are still quite young (my youngest will be 6 months next week). My husband is totally supportive and willing to pick up the slack at home while I do the program. I am currently enrolled in school to take the few prereqs that I need over the summer and fall. Any input would be apprecited?? I was told that I don't need to take the TEAS until I am accepted, is this correct?? Also I was told that you don't need the prereqs finished to apply, however you do need them to start...At most, I will only have 2 or 3 classes finished by the time I need to apply in Aug so I am concerned that will affect the decision to let me in.

I would love to talk to someone about the program if someone wouldn't mind..I haven't been on here long enough to send personal messages though...

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I thought I would add my two cents. I have already applied and am working through all the gen ed pre-reqs. I've had to retake Chem since the last time I was in chem was the mid 80's for my BS in engineering.

As for the type of student, I guess I will be the old dude in one of their classes. 44. Did two year stint opening a new plant in Mexico so I'm not sure that 10 months would be too rough. My partner is a teach and I have applied for the Fall group in Baton Rouge, with a secondary selection of Materie. Does anyone know anything about Materie? I have also applied to Ivy Tech in Fort Wayne. The work one would pay for all of the expenses for the ASN program, so my decision falls into earnings vs. cost fo the 14-16 month diffential and the possibility of being away from my partner for so long. maybe we'll just have to invest in pcs and Iphone etc.

As for the prereqs I will be finishing my last 5 requecs on August 8th. I will have a total of 22 hours of class contact hours and 2 online courses. I think I figured about 6-7 hours per week for each of those so a total of about 30 hours of school per week. I think that load will tell me if I can do this amount of work or not.

As for the work load, not really sure where the other BS grads for the accelerated class came from. The engineering load at GMI/Kettering was on average 21 credit hours and some semester I had about 30+ contact per week which included all the darn labs that took 3-4 hours per week for 1 or no additional credit.

AJ

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I just finished sending in my application for the Jan 2011 accelerated program and am not feeling great after reading all the posts. I still need that Religion 101 class and I don't live in Baton Rouge and cannot find one on line to take. Any suggestions? I am finishing Micro and Micro lab this fall. I am much older so am wondering now if I even have a chance. I am not worried about the hard work just whether they consider older people as candidates. I know they say they don't discriminate because of age but you never know for sure. Any suggestions on the Religion course? I have looked at the transfer equivalents and can't find an online alternative. Any help is appreciated.

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